Dark Side of Dawn: The Nightmare Chronicles Read Online Free PDF

Most of my calls go through Bonnie first, and only a handful of people had my direct number. Noah was one of them, and somehow I knew it was him calling before I even picked up the receiver and heard his low, chocolatyvoice on the other end.
    “Hey, Doc.” My stomach fluttered like the wings of a thousand caged butterflies at his greeting. Part of it was my usual reaction to him, but the rest of it was guilt. I hadn’t told him about my summons to appear before the Warden, and I had no intention of telling him anything about it unless I had to. He didn’t need me adding another damsel in distress to the list.
    Oh frig. As soon as the phrase filtered through my brain, I winced. Damsel in distress? That was cold of me, and uncalled for.
    “Hey, Noah.” Could he hear the lameness in my voice? “What’s up?”
    “I’m at the hospital with Amanda.”
    “How’s she doing?”
    “She’s good.” I could tell from the stiffness in his voice that she really wasn’t—not in his opinion. “We were wondering if maybe you could stop by after work?”
    We were wondering. I forced a smile onto my face, even though there was no one there to appreciate the effort. I should say no. “Sure. I should be there around four thirty. Is that okay?”
    “Great.” I could hear the relief and pleasure in his voice. It buoyed me a little—but only just a little. “See you then.”
    I hung up. We hadn’t gotten to the stage where wesaid things like “love you” at the end of a phone conversation, and that was okay. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. But I wasn’t sure how I felt about this latest development either. Referring to himself and Amanda as “we” was innocent enough, and understandable. After all, they had been married once upon a time. Those bonds, even once broken, were hard to sometimes sever completely.
    Was I jealous? I could say I wasn’t, but no one would believe that, would they? I was an awful person being even the slightest bit threatened by Amanda when she had been through such a terrible ordeal. Awful and petty. That didn’t stop the feeling, however. I was jealous—just a little. I was jealous over the bond they had despite the breakup of their marriage. I was jealous that Noah would drop everything to help her—I wanted to be the only woman he dropped everything to be with.
    But it was more than my own miserable insecurities niggling at me. I wasn’t really worried that Noah would dump me and go running back to a woman who had cheated on him and brought about the end of their marriage. No, I was worried about Noah’s attachment to a woman who had been horribly mistreated by a man and was vulnerable.
    A woman he might see as needing protection.
    I didn’t know much about Noah’s past. He simply didn’t talk about it. I had, however, picked up enough toknow that his father had been a real piece of work. And I had seen something in Noah’s art, and in his dreams (that was why he didn’t want me just “showing up” anymore) that gave me enough insight to guess what his mother must have gone through.
    I could very easily imagine a young Noah championing his bullied mother. I’d bet that’s why he learned aikido as well—so he could fight for her, be her knight in shining armor.
    And that’s exactly why I was a little worried about his new devotion to Amanda. Noah was a good man, but he had a thing about rescuing women, protecting them. I could see it in his work, feel it in his dreams, and hear it on occasion in his words. Maybe I was overly paranoid, but come on—I hadn’t gone to school for as long as I had to appease my paranoia. I was trained to see these things. And I saw all of this in my boyfriend’s actions.
    I didn’t want Noah to rescue me, or appoint himself my protector. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit concerned that those feelings inside him might not overpower all else where she was concerned. If anyone needed a champion right now it was Amanda, and